Metal-refining apparatus



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W. A. KONBMAN.4 METAL REPINING APPARATUS.

No. 560,414. l Patented May 19, 1896.

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W. A. KONBMAN. METAL REFIMING APPARATUS.

Ne.56o,41.4. Patented Mey 19, 1896.

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W.`A. KONBMAN. e METAL RB'INING APPARATUS'.

No. 560,414. Patented Mey- 19, 1896.

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W. A. KoNm/IMI.l lMB'I'AL REFINING APPARATUS.

PatentedlVIay 1 ANDREW BSRAHAM. PNG'U'UTHQWASHINGWN C UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE.

-IVILLIAM A. KONEMAN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

l METAL-,REFINING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 560,414, dated May 19,1896.

Application filed May8,1894. Renewed October 24, 1895. Serial No.566,785. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, WILLIAM A. KONEMAN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Metal-Refining Apparatus, ofWhich the following is a specification.

My invention is primarily intended for the treatment ofcopper-containing mattes from copper-matte or lead-bullion producingfurnaces, though it may be employed with advantage for refining othermetals. A Wellknown process of refining these mattes is theBessemerizing method of subjecting them While in a molten condition tothe oxidizing action of air under pressure,which is injected into themolten matte to oxidize the sulfur and iron and leave the copper in ametallic state, the air-blast being discontinued as soon as thecopper-dame appears. The quantity of sulfur contained in the matte isnot sufficient, however7 to feed the combustion, so that the copperobtained by this process is only about nine hundred pure. It isdesirable to first eliminate any contained lead from the matte andsimultaneously the contained precious metals and then subject all theremaining ingredients accompanying the coppersuch as iron, sulfur,arsenic, antimony, 85e.- to a process of oxidation to drive off such ofthem as are volatile and convert all the resultant metallic oxids intothe form of a fusible slag, adding therefor suitable iiux. Vhile theseparation of the lead from the matte may be accomplished in variousWays, I prefer to effect its removal by first subjecting the matte toroasting, and while it is undergoing J[he roasting operation, andimmediately after the bulk of the sulfur has been expelled, mixing withthe matte in the roastingfurnace granulated metallic iron in suflicientquantity to combine with the remaining sulfur, then to bring the mixtureto fusion and add sufficient carbon for the complete reduction of thelead and to effect its separation, by settling, from the matte,togetherwith such precious metal as may be contained in the lead.

To refine the matte with my improved apparatus, I provide for treatingit, preferably with the lead removed, as stated, in a furnace, intowhich it is introduced either in a molten condition or wherein it may bebrought to fusion, and subject it to the oxidizing action of injectedair in a manner to cause the air to penetrate the molten mass from itsupper surface, but introduce the air in excess of the quantity that canbe consumed by the metal and utilize the surplus air to promote thecombustion of carbon introduced in gaseous form into the furnace to beburned by mixture with it of the surplus air which has escaped afterbeing in contact with the molten mass, and thereby generate and maintainan intense heat in the apparatus. In this Way I utilize the heat of themolten mass for combustion in presence thereof of fuel for the purposeof maintaining an intense heat to keep the mass in the desired hotcondition till the substances to be separated from the copper arecompletely oxidized. Y

My improved apparatus is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inWhich- Figure l is a plan view, partly broken and sectional, of a slagor matte refining furnace. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the same,taken at different planes in Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a section taken at thelines 3 3 in Fig. 2 and viewed in the direction of the arrows, and Fig.-l is a section taken at the lines 4 4 in Fig. 2 and viewed in thedirection of the arrows.

A is the furnace, of generally circular form and having asomewhat-arched top B, covering the chamber A and provided with thecentral gas-outlet flue B. At intervals about the exterior of thefurnace-Wall are formed upright 'gas-fines r, leading from a main C,surrounding the base of the furnace and communicating with a gas supply,preferably a generator of producer-gas, (not shown and at their upperends the iiues r lead horizontally into the chamber A near its top, thechamber being preferably of great horizontal area for the treatment of alarge quantity of the molten matte, but in a comparatively shalloW body,in order that it may be the more thoroughly penetrated by and subjectedto the oxidizing effect of the air injected in the manner hereinafterdescribed. v

In the top B are openings q, suitably numerous and Which should allconverge in- Ward non-radially or toward different centers in thechamber A', and in these openings are twyers p, to which lead pipes pfrom an air- IOO .i n enlarged heads conduit D, encircling the top B andcommunicatin g with a blast apparatus. (Not shown.)

Under the base of the chamber A are a circumferential series of V-shapedcast-metal boxes or water-legs E, radiating from the center of theapparatus and terminating at their outer ends, in and beyond thefurnacewall, l', the boxes having cast in them each a seriesof uprightbracing-ribs o, exten ding between its top and bottom. Into each leg Ethere enters from its flaring end, near the base, a valvecontrolledwater-pipe n from a main n, surrounding the apparatus and communicatingwith a water-supply, (not shown,) and from each head E at its uppercontracted end there leads an inlet-pipe m to a conduit m, encirclingthe apparatus and discharging through a pipe Z, which may lead to apoint of hot-water utilization, as to a boiler-feed. (Not shown.)

The operation is as follows: The matte is introduced, preferably inmolten condition, through an inlet-spout 7c intothe chamber A, thedischarge of copper being provided for at the spout 71: and of the slagat the spout k2, the slag being skimmed by a stationary projectingskimmer 7.53. The body of the mass is maintained by a comparatively.shallow proportion. Air (which may, if desired, be previously heated) isinjected into the chamber through the twyers p and penetrates the mass,besides imparting to it a roundabout stirring, owing to the inclinationof the airinlet openings toward different centers, and the twyersp areadapted to introduce a quantity of air in excess of that which can beconsumed by oxidation of the metal in the molten mass. The surplus ofair comingles with gas introduced into the chamber A from the fines frand consumes the latter, thereby generating an intense heat in thechamber to maintain the material therein in an intensely heatedcondition and permitting thorough oxidation by the penetrating action ofthe airblast and separation of the foreign substances combined with thecopper. By introducing an excessive quantity of fuel-gas into thechamber A', I am enabled, moreover, to recover zinc, in a pure conditionand without impairment of its color, from furnace-slagA introduced intothe chamber in molten condition. The gas eliminates the zinc from theslag by reducing the zinc and volatilizing it,

and the vapors are oxidized by contact with the air. In this case,however, the gas should be injected through the twyers p to penetratethe molten mass, and the air may be intro'- duced through the iues 1'. Ind that for the perfect elimination ofthe zinc the slag requires to bekept hot by extraneous heat and that the vapor of zinc must be subjectedto contact with the air in a highly-heated condition in order to igniteand reduce to ash the condensed and accompanying free carbon, whichotherwise remains in and ruins the color and utility of the zinc-oxidproduct.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a metal-refining apparatus, the combination of a furnace having achamber for molten matte or slag and provided with a gasoutlet flue,air-inlets communicating with an air-pressure supply and adapted tointroduce air into the chamber in excess of the quantity required foroxidation of the metal, said airinlets inclining and converging into thechamber to direct the air downward todifferent points against the uppersurface of the molten mass to produce rotation thereof in the chamber,thereby to bring the oxidizable and consumable and combustibleingredients constantly to the surface, gas-inlets communicating with acombustible-gas supply and opening into said chamber to mix the gas, andburn it upon the molten mass, with the surplus of hot air, and aslag-skimmer in the chamber adjacent to its slag-spout and operating, bythe rotation of said mass, to remove therefrom the resultant fluidimpurities, substantially as described.

2. In a metal-refining apparatus, the combination of a furnace A havinga chamberA for molten matte or slag and provided with a gas-outlet flueB and air and gas inlets inclining downward into the chamber, a seriesof V-shaped radiating water-legs E under the base of said chamber,terminating at their outer ends, beyond the furnace-wall, in enlargedheads E', water-supply pipes leading into said water-legs and pipes m'leading from said heads to a conduit fm, having a dischargeoutlet Z,substantially as described.

WILLIAM A. KONEMAN.

In presence of- H. J. Fnos'r, W. U. WILLIAMS.

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